


Sparks and Wanderings

by Kellylogs



Category: Magic: The Gathering
Genre: F/F, Original Character(s), fanwalker
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-01-27
Updated: 2019-01-27
Packaged: 2019-10-17 13:13:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 6,890
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17561075
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kellylogs/pseuds/Kellylogs
Summary: Rae is an Innistradi Cathar. In the wake of Avacyn's return she met and became soulbonded with a gryff named Moonquill. Times were good, but that did not last. After some preamble, we pick up with Rae in the thick of things during the events of Shadows block.





	1. Spark

**Author's Note:**

> Meet Rae, an Innstadi Cathar that is, in true spark-ignition fashion, gonna be having a real bad day.

** Chapter 1: Spark **

           As the wind passed over her face, Rae knew nothing could feel more right in the world. Moonquill’s muscles moved bellow her, wings flapping to keep them aloft as they glided over the moors. It was a rare treat to go home, to have the opportunity to see her father, to visit her mother’s and sister’s graves. Most of the time her duties as a Cathar kept her away. Now, though, Avacyn’s protections were fully restored and the world had grown calmer, more peaceful.

           She cast her mind back to that fateful day, Avacyn rising from the shattered remains of the vault. It had been an honor beyond her wildest dreams to witness that moment first hand, to see their protector return to them at last. For her, as a Cathar, what followed had been a blur of righteous battle and rejoicing in victory as she had never tasted before. No longer were they simply holding evil at bay, now they could seek it out where it tried to hide. Each day after Avacyn returned seemed to want the title of best day of her life more than the last. All paled in comparison, however, to the day she met Moonquill…

\-----

           She had been celebrating another victory with her fellow Cathars, this time over vampires in Nephalia, when it happened. Walking out from the tavern where’d been drinking all night to return to the church where they were camped. Rae had known they weren’t generally supposed to be drinking like this, they all knew that. But lately, nobody had cared much about enforcing that. It was a time of rejoicing, after all, and few had earned it more than the Cathars who had fought through the darkest of times.

           In her stupor, Rae was beginning to consider kissing one of her sisters in arms when, suddenly, her mind cleared. She’d been able to feel magic for years, had gotten a sense of what the movement of mana around her felt like while working with Archmages and priests. The feeling she had now was just like that, except instead of feeling the mana be pulled past her, she began to feel it swirl around her.

           Following the flow, she looked up, noting briefly that her comrades had all backed away and begun to stare at her. Above she saw, framed by the moon, a pair of pristine white wings holding aloft the form of a gryff, beautiful and graceful, slowly descending upon the street, upon Rae.

           Rae had heard there were flocks of gryffs in the skies again, returning with Avacyn, but it was only now she saw one up close. The stories did not do them justice. The gryff’s feathers and hair were a sparkling, pristine white. Its muscles toned and powerful under its skin, yet its whole form lithe and flexible.

           The gryff landed and, with a start, Rae realized that the mana she felt was swirling around them both now, grouping them together. She raised a hand, which she realized was surrounded in an aura of light, and stepped toward the gryff. She couldn’t place why, but she felt drawn forward, like this mana around them created a charge to draw them together. The gryff, for her part, stayed perfectly still as Rae’s hand extended toward her and then jerked back. Rae, uncertain of what she was doing, tried again.

           This time she felt mana flow into her, as easy as breathing, filling her with calm and certainty. She placed her hand on the gryff’s muzzle, stroking gently, and it was as if a jolt of lightning passed between them. Rae felt herself, standing there, but she also felt the gryff standing before her as if they were one.

           “Moonquill…” she muttered, not knowing where she had found the name, but knowing it was right.

           The gryff dipped its head, as if it were nodding, and then seemed to speak in Rae’s mind. Speak, perhaps, was not the best word for it, but Rae could understand Moonquill the same way she understood herself.

           Following her next instinct, Rae mounted Moonquill, her fellow Cathars staring up at her, their jaws slack with awe at the sight.

           “Everyone,” Rae said, trying to keep from laughing at their faces, feeling Moonquill puff with pride, “Meet Moonquill, she’s a new friend of mine…”

\-----

           Since that day Rae and Moonquill had ridden the skies together, members of the new Cathar order of Gryff Knights. Rae didn’t fully understand it, but that day something the clergy had come to call a Soul Bond had formed between them, as it formed between all Gryff Knights and their mounts. Apparently, it wasn’t unique to Gryff Knights, and had been appearing between all sorts of beings.

Rae didn’t much care for all that, though, she just rode with Moonquill wherever they were needed, acting in perfect sync with one another, as if rider and mount were one. She reveled in that sensation, and she knew Moonquill did too, even if she’d never admit it.

Rae felt Moonquill poking at her through their bond and she snapped out of her reminiscing. Moonquill felt concerned.

“Don’t worry, Quill,” Rae said, patting Moonquill’s flank as they glided along, “Just thinking about the good times. Been nice having some for a change.”

The gryff seemed to understand, as she always did, and they flew on in contented silence, home beginning to show just on the horizon.

\-----

           Rae hit the ground hard, feeling her ribs crack under the impact. As she struggled to regain her breath, she contemplated how idiotic it had been to engage an angel in the air. No matter how skilled the soul-pair, no knight in the order could hope to defeat an angel in single combat like that. Mad or not, an angel was still an angel.

           Reaching out through their bond, Rae felt Moonquill. She breathed a sigh of relief, finding her friend alive and still gliding, if in some pain. She called Moonquill to her as she scanned the smoke-filled skies for the angel, trying not to let the complete wrongness of this situation get to her.

           Before long she saw her mount emerge through the smoke billowing up from one of the rooves in the village. She felt calm, preparing to perform a low-flying mount as usual. Then, it all went terribly wrong.

           Behind Moonquill the angel emerged from the smoke, her blade raised and wreathed in fire. Before Rae could call out, before she could tell Moonquill to get out of there, the blade came down.

           Rae would never remember what she saw, only the pain that exploded across her link with Moonquill. It felt as if the flaming sword had been plunged into her neck and left there. Her vision went white, and then, as she realized what must have happened, red. She felt rage like she had never known. All at once the teachings of the church left her mind. There was no place now for mercy, tolerance, and compassion. How could this be the perfect exemplar of those things? How could this monster be what she had always aspired to be like? Every part of her body and soul cried for vengeance, for justice, and for the first time she couldn’t find any difference them.

           The next thing she would remember seeing was her own hands, acting without her thinking, rising to the heavens and igniting in flames. Rae could not tell if the fire was burning her, and she did not care. Acting on pure instinct, she hurled fire at the angel. The angel’s face, which had moments ago been full of glee and lethal intent, now twisted into a very un-angelic expression: fear.

           The first wave a fire burned holes in her wings, bringing her to ground. The next began to melt her armor, metal bubbling and leather crumbling to dust. The next found skin, and the angel screamed in pain. Rae didn’t care, she just kept throwing fire until long after the screaming stopped.

           She wasn’t sure how long she stood there, looking at the pile of charred bones and slag metal where there had once been an angel, but eventually she fell to her knees. The flames on her hands spread up her arms and soon engulfed her entire body. Though the flames themselves did not hurt her, she could feel her tears on her cheeks turning to steam almost immediately as she shed them. She looked to the sky, which had begun to open with rain, and felt herself scream as the drops began to steam off of her burning aura.

           Then, she felt something in her chest, as if yet more fire were trying to burst forth, and then began to feel her body fade away. Rae imagine she must be starting to burn up in her own flames, too numb to feel the pain anymore. That theory collapsed when, all of a sudden, her flames were snuffed, collapsing back into her hands and then going out, and the dark sky above her was replaced with harsh sunlight.

           The first thing she noticed was the lack of clouds. The shock of that alone was almost enough to distract her from the pain she felt, both in her soul and her ribs. Rae has never seen a sky totally free of clouds, and she had never felt sunlight this harsh. She lowered her gaze and continued her descent into what must be madness as she saw a vast, flat landscape of sands and rocky ground stretching to the horizon. Nowhere like this existed in all the known world. Looking to either side, she saw what seemed to be a sort of road extending for miles in either direction, and, to her left, what appeared to be a band of travelers.

           Rae pushed herself to her feet, which at this point was as difficult as lifting an entire building on her shoulders. Out of habit, she tried to call for Moonquill, only to collapse again when she felt the crushing emptiness where her friend’s presence should have been.

           Seeming to see her fall, two figures ran forward from the band of travelers. They helped Rae to her feet, lifting her between them, and as Rae offered thanks she got her first real look at one of them. The man seemed to be human, but with skin darker than Rae had ever seen in her life. His clothes were more like robes than common garb, but not quite like any robes she’d ever seen either.

           “Thank you,” Rae said for what was at least the fifth time, “But where am I? Who are you?”

           “We are traders from Femeref,” said the man in an accent which was, much like everything else Rae had seen in the last few minutes, totally unrecognizable, “We’re on the road home across the desert. What happened to you?”

           “I,” Rae started to reply but then caught on something the man had said, “Wait, Femeref? Desert? What are you talking about? What are those things?”

           The man Rae had been speaking to exchanged a look with the other man helping her back towards the wagons before saying “Miss, what do you mean? Femeref is our country, here on Jamuraa, this is the desert that it borders. How could you be here and not know this?”

           Rae tried to answer but all that emerged from her mouth was a whimper of confusion before she finally gave in to the mounting exhaustion and confusion and felt her consciousness slip away…


	2. Pulled

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rae has been living on Dominaria for some time now, and is working as a mercenary, having found no better use for her skills as a warrior. Her only friend to speak of: a partner named Joz.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> She's sparked and become a planeswalker, but hell if Rae actually knows those words or their meanings.

** Chapter 2: Pulled **

          Rae found this kind of work suited her. It was simple. No great divine edicts, no sacred oaths or great burdens. Just her, a sword, and a task. Today, that task was to ensure that this caravan reached the northern shore to meet their ship. The trip would last two, maybe three days, and she would be paid handsomely for her trouble by the merchant in charge. Worst case scenario, she and the other escorts would have to fend off some inept, poorly equipped bandits. Simple.

          “Hey, Rae,” came a voice from behind her, the sudden sound sending her hand to her sword by instinct, “Whoa, whoa, easy now. Just wanted to ask if you think we should start looking for a campsite?”

          Rae suppressed her gut reaction and let her hand drop from her belt, turning her head to look at Joz. The man wore a breastplate, bracers, and greaves over a rough tunic and well-worn boots. He wore no helmet, which Rae found odd considering he went to the trouble of shaving his head. His skin was a dirty collage of pinks and browns, varying in tone by how much dirt covered that particular patch. On his hip he carried a hand axe and a few daggers, all of which Rae knew he could throw just as well as he used them up close.

          “Probably not a bad idea,” Rae said, the Benalish accent now easier, more convincing that it had once been, “Sun isn’t going to be up much longer.”

          Joz nodded, scanning their surroundings for prospects. Soon enough, he pointed out a flat stretch of ground. “Seems comfortable enough to me.”

          Rae looked the location over, shaking her head. “That’s about the only positive, Joz. It’s totally exposed on three sides. We’re in the mountains, we can do better in terrain like this.”

          Joz rolled his eyes as he answered. “Oh come on, Rae, it’s not like we’ve got much to worry about around here. Besides, more open mean it’s easier to escape, if it really does come to that.”

          Rae considered a moment, and she had to admit he had a point there, but she refused to make it seem as though she would tolerate laziness. “Fair enough, but I’d still prefer to find someplace with just a little more cover.”

          Joz threw his hands up. “Alright, boss, you got it.”

          “I’m not your boss.”

          “Suuuuure you’re not,” Joz grinned “That’s why you pick the jobs, call the shots, and negotiate the pay.”

          Rae felt her cheeks redden. “Look, if there’s a problem here-”

          “Whoa there, boss lady,” Joz brought his hands in front of him in a placating gesture, “I wasn’t saying it was a problem! If anything it’s been a pretty sweet gig, working with you.”

          “Oh,” Rae stuttered for a moment, “Well, fine then. Thanks, I suppose.”

          “Anytime.” Joz grinned again, and Rae looked away, continuing the search for a campsite.

\-----

          About two hours later the two of them sat at their campfire on one edge of the camp, the other mercenaries having made camp at the other end of the camp. They had eventually settled on a patch of bare earth beneath the overhang of a cliff and covered from the main road, which lay some 20 feet away, by a few large boulders.

          It had been quiet for some time now, in her and Joz’s slice of camp. As Rae looked into the flames, she couldn’t help but think of her own. She could still feel them, smoldering and pulsing within her. Ever since that day with the Angel, Rae had known. Known that they were still there, just waiting for her call.

          Rae raised her left hand, turning it over and studying it in the firelight. Once she’d realized she still could, she’d vowed never to call on the flames again. It worried her how easily she knew they would answer if she did call them, and she worried more how much control she would have over them once they were burning.

          The last time they’d only gone out because she’d crossed here, to the world she now knew as Dominaria. As far as she could guess the act had directed all her energy into the one task, snuffing the flames in the process.

After she’d arrived she’d spent a week recovering with the kind people that had found her on Jamuraa. During that time she’d woken in the night several times, always crying out in some confusion or remembered pain. Eventually, after goodbyes and thanks to the caravaneers that had saved her, she’d traveled back to Innistrad to try to help however she could. That, as it turned out, had been a mistake.

Though she was there only for a few minutes, what she saw horrified her more deeply than she could fully comprehend. In the sky there had been a creature the size of a village, lashing out with tentacles that crushed buildings like they were made of paper. Slightly lower down than that she’d seen Angels, dozens of them, circling and diving on crowd bellow. She’d known she should help, known she should protect the innocents. But, deep in her gut, she’d also known that it was pointless. She could not help them. With that realization, she’d felt the last of her purpose in life shatter. If she could not protect the her home, her people, then who was she?

She didn’t remember traveling away from Innistrad after that, but she found herself back on Dominaria again. Since that day she’d wandered, working as a sellsword, learning the ropes of this new world. She’d settled on the story that she was from Benalia since it seemed the most like Innistrad, and mentioning having a past with a church and Angels would not be questioned should she have a slip of the tongue. She’d started working with Joz about two months ago, after almost a year here. He had claimed to owe her the help after she’d saved his life on a job.

“Hey,” Joz’s voice stirred Rae from her memories, “What do you think about, anyway, when you stare into the fire like that?”

“Sorry?” Rae asked, unsure how to answer.

“Well,” Joz looked up at the stars as he spoke, “It seems every time we share a fire, just the two of us, unless I’m talking to you or we’re cooking, you just stare at it and go quiet. It try not to mention it, don’t want to be rude, but I just wonder what you must think about, that’s all.”

Rae sized up her companion with a newfound respect. Joz was typically brutish and blunt, and until now she’d never seen such insight from him. She considered for a moment before answering, and decided she’d give him part of the truth.

“A while back,” she began, choosing her words carefully, “My home was attacked. We thought they were there to protect us, they had for a long time, but then they turned on us with no warning.” Rae felt tears sting at the corners of her eyes, but she pushed on. “I fought. Fought as hard as I could. But I it was hopeless. My best friend died that night, and losing her woke something up in me. I never want to do what I did that night again.”

They sat there for a long moment, silence over their camp apart from the crackling of the fire. Finally, Joz spoke. “I’m sorry, Rae, really I am. I won’t pretend I understand what you went through, and I won’t pretend I’m not curious about exactly what it is you did. But I won’t pry, I promise.”

Rae nodded, unsure how to express the swell of gratitude she felt in her chest. Instead she said “We should probably get some rest. Get up early tomorrow and we might make town before dark.”

Joz nodded. “I’ll take first watch. Get some rest, partner.”

Rae almost flinched at that. She hadn’t considered anyone a partner since Moonquill. If anyone had earned it, though, it was Joz. “Thanks,” she said, unfurling her bedroll, “Wake me in a couple hours, alright?”

“Sure thing, boss,” Joz smiled at her, “Now sleep.”

It didn’t take long for Rae to slip into her dreams. Tonight, mercifully, they were free of mad angels and fire. Tonight they were of childhood, of her parents and her uncle Torris, the archmage that had so inspired her when she was young. When Rae awoke, she felt a smile on her lips. It had been good to hear her mother and uncle’s voices again after so many years.

“Sleep well?” asked Joz, busy at work burying the remnants of their fire.

Rae sat up and looked around. It was morning, the caravan and the other mercenaries were all busy breaking camp. She realized Joz had never woken her for her turn at watch.

“Joz,” Rae’s tone was annoyed, “Why didn’t you wake me last night? Don’t tell me you just stayed awake all this time!”

“I did,” said Joz, tone even, still focused on his work, “You seemed like you needed the rest.”

Rae felt anger flare up in her, but she kept it contained and said “And did it not occur to you that you did too? What if we have to defend the caravan today? You’re no good to anyone tired, least of all yourself.”

“It’s fine, Rae,” Joz’s tone was infuriatingly casual, “You know this stretch of the journey is the safest anyway. Been years since robbers or goblins were a problem here.”

“That’s not the point!” Rae’s voice grew louder without her noticing, “There’s always a chance! And I didn’t tell you about my past so you could feel sorry for me!”

Joz looked at her now, a determined glint in his eyes. “I wouldn’t dare feel sorry for you, not ever. But you’ve been pushing yourself lately, so I wanted you to get some rest.”

Rae felt an urge to pull her hair out. On the one hand, it was true she’d been running none-stop lately. She did need rest. And this was a safer stretch of road than most. At the same time, there was always the risk of bandits or goblins in mountains like these. Well-rested, Joz would almost never need to worry. Sleepless, Rae recalled once having grappled him into his bed before wedging his door shut from the outside. It hadn’t taken much effort. Pointless to argue now, though. They had to keep moving.

“We will talk about this later.” Rae threatened before setting to the task of helping break camp.

\-----

          Almost four hours later the sun had climbed high and begun to beat down on them as the passed through a narrow valley. Rae found herself musing on how they were getting all the visibility and comfort problems caused by a bright sun without any of the warmth. It didn’t bother her much, as she found coming from Innistrad with its long cold autumns and winters and short summers had prepared her well for such conditions, but Joz could not stop complaining of it.

          “-Look all I’m saying,” said Joz as Rae tuned in to his half-over rant, “Is that if it’s gonna blind us like this, it might as well thaw my bones a bit!”

          “Joz,” Rae found herself smiling and suppressing a laugh at his indignity, “Just be quiet, would you? We need to listen for trouble if we can’t see it.”

          “Ah there she is again, Rae the vigilant.” Joz Put on his best mockery of the disciplined soldier, “Shall we scale the walls to see what lurks on top, then, captain?”

          Rae had to bite back a genuine agreement with the idea to avoid playing into Joz’s joke. “Look,” she said after a moment to collect herself, “All I’m trying to say is this is dangerous terrain whether this road is typically safe or-” Rae stopped as she heard a faint sound above them.

          “Forget how to finish the sentence there, boss?” Joz smiled, eyes half hood in exhaustion, oblivious.

          “Be quiet,” Rae hissed, “And listen.”

          Joz thankfully took the deadly serious tone as the queue to stop messing around and listened. The sound came again from above. A trickling, clacking sound. Displaced gravel.

          Rae looked up, shielding her eyes, scanning the ridge to their right for the source of the sound. After a moment, a glint caught her eye. She squinted through the sunlight at it, and saw the silhouette of a spear poking from behind a boulder.

          Rae turned to yell a warning to the caravan and the other mercenaries, marching ahead of their rear guard position, but it was too late. From over the ridges above them on either side lunged goblins, about three dozen of them, raining down upon the caravan and its escorts. As the little monsters fell they lashed and lunged with their crude weapons, killing all but one of the horses, two of the other mercenaries, and two of the traders before they even hit the ground. The only consolation was that several of them clearly shattered legs or hit their heads on impact, removing at least six of them from the fight immediately.

          Rae and Joz drew their weapons and charged forward to help, but it didn’t look good. As they ran they saw two more of the mercenaries fall as they defended the traders.

          As they crashed into the fray Rae lost herself in the rush of combat. She would never admit it, but she loved a good fight. She felt her sword flowing before her, stabbing, slashing, and deflecting almost without her needing to think of it. Goblins started to fall around her, and before long the fight turned in their favor.

          As the last goblin drew its death rattle, Rae turned to take stock of the damage. It seemed the other five traders were unharmed, if shaken. The damage to the carriages was minimal, the biggest issue they’d be presented with was moving ahead with only one horse. Looking ahead, it seemed they’d lost another of the escorts in the fight, her partner now laying her up with the two that had fallen earlier. Rae found herself feeling some relief. Bloody though this had been, it could have been much worse.

          Rae turned, looking for Joz, and the relief she had been feeling drained away when she saw him. He was slumped against a rock by the roadside, his clothes and armor stained with blood at his left side, and he was hardly breathing.

          “Joz!” Rae rushed to his side, dropping to one knee and holding her hands just above his wound.

          “Hey now,” Joz said, “Don’t go worry about me, boss. My own damn fault.”

          “You idiot,” Rae blinked back tears, “Hold still and don’t waste your breath on talking.” She sifted desperately through her memory for the healing magic her uncle had explained to her when she was a child. She’d never tried it before, never realizing she had any capacity for magic before the fire, but now she hoped against hope she could do this.

          Rae took a deep breath and then exhaled, drawing power from the world around her, remembering the feeling of mana swirling around her when she had bonded for the first time with Moonquill. She pushed the memory down, she did not need to think on lost friends, not now.

          The mana flowed into her and then concentrated in her hands. This, she recalled, was what uncle Torris had called the easy part. Next she had to focus it to her purpose. She closed her eyes and envisioned the power in her fingers as a soft, mending light, and when she opened her eyes again her hands were glowing. She willed the light forth from her fingers, and it flowed over Joz’s wound, his breath catching as the cut began to close. It was all she could do once the magic was at work to keep it bound to her will, to stop it from dissipating before Joz was safe. After a few moments, sweat beading on her brow, Rae could hold the spell no longer and the light faded. It now looked as though the wound were a scar from years ago, save for the fresh blood soaking the clothes around it.

          Joz looked at Rae with hooded eyes. Through the momentary link she’d established with the healing magic, Rae could sense he was no longer at death’s door, but he was far from fine.

          “Rae,” Joz slurred, “You’re… You’re a mage?”

          “I honestly don’t know what I am,” Rae said, and it wasn’t a lie, “Now sleep, my friend, you need it.”

          Joz, whether he liked it or not, slumped over, totally unconscious, almost as soon as she had said it.

\-----

          The next couple of days blurred together as they slogged along the road. They had all taken what they could carry from the now derelict carriages, loaded Joz, still asleep, and some extra gear onto the last horse, and set off for the port again. This debacle would probably ruin these merchants, and some of the other mercenaries had lost comrades in the attack, but Rae found it difficult to care. She worried that she felt this way, wondered when she had become so callous, but even thinking about that did not take her mind off of Joz.

          Joz was the only person Rae felt she could call a friend in this world which was still so new to her. She had no idea what she would do if he didn’t pull through this. No matter how she tried, she couldn’t put the thought from her mind. She hoped, she needed to believe, that her healing had done enough. But always at the edge of her thoughts was the nagging idea that she had only prolonged his suffering.

          They reached the port town on the second day after the attack, their travel time extended by the loss of the carriages. Joz was still asleep but thankfully drinking when water was put to his lips.

          After seeing the merchants to their clients, a few of the other mercenaries stayed around to ask after their pay. Rae didn’t delude herself into believing that there was any chance at the amount she was promised, so she simply took Joz and the horse and made for the nearest inn.

          A few hours later and she was set up, Joz in the only bed as she sat in one of the chairs, keeping vigil. She stayed awake for as long as she could, but soon enough dreams took her again. Tonight they were not so peaceful. She dreamt of her uncle, proud and strong, pushing her into her father’s arms as he ran back into their little village to fetch her mother and younger sister, telling her father to get her out of there as the howlpack’s cries rose above the rooftops. She had never never seen him, mother, or Sara again. Something about their bodies being too damaged for her to view.

          The dream shifted, and she stood in uncle Torris’ tomb in Thraben. She wore her clean and crisp new Cahtar’s uniform, her sword belted at her side. She had come to pay her respects to her uncle, the man that had inspired her to become the warrior she had grown into. She remembered hoping he would have been proud of her, hoping that she could live up to his legacy despite her apparent lack of magic.

          The dream shifted again to the day father had died, just before the troubles really began. It seemed sick to think of it this way, but Rae was glad he had passed peacefully into the blessed sleep before seeing the world turn upon its head.

          Finally she was back in the village. The rain pouring and the mad angel lying before her, a mess of melted metal and burning flesh. The fire on her hands, begging to consume her again. This time, she did not sit there and let it. She thrashed, rolled, tried to will the tongues of flame off of her. They would not stop, however, until she at last felt Innistrad drop away and the emptiness between worlds rise around her. No matter how many times she had this dream, she could not stay. No matter how much she wished otherwise, she was pulled away.

          Rae awoke with a start and, surprisingly, a sense of peace. She had dreamed that dream a great many times in the last year, but not until now had she realized what it meant. That could wait, however, Rae decided, when she noticed Joz was awake.

          “Heya boss,” Joz grinned as he sat up, then winced and lowered himself to the mattress again, holding his side. “Guess I shoulda gotten that sleep then, huh?”

          “You know you should have,” Rae said, her voice rough from lack of use in the last two days, “But I’m just glad you’re alive.”

          “Yeah,” a shadow passed over Joz’s face, “About that.”

          “Joz, please-”

          He put up a hand for silence and said “Look, Rae, you know I don’t pry if I don’t need to, but this is well over that line. You’re a mage?”

          “I-” Rae wasn’t sure how to respond, “I don’t know. I suppose I am. I never knew i could do magic before… Before I…” Her voice drifted off and her gaze lowered.

          “Before that night your home was attacked?”

          Rae looked back up at her friend, shocked.

          “Not that hard to put together,” Joz said, almost nonchalant, “And I won’t judge you for not telling me. It’s your business. But at this point I feel like I have to ask, even if you won’t answer, why didn’t you?”

          Rae considered for a moment how much of the truth she wanted to tell, and much to her surprise decided rather quickly on all of it.

          “The protectors that turned on us, they were angels. I was a holy warrior called a Cathar, a knight sworn to defend my people. Until those last few days, that meant I had been working with the angels.” Rae paused to look at Joz, and found him sitting there, having propped himself against the wall, his face utterly neutral, and she plowed onward, “The last night I spent in my home I lost my best friend, and I snapped. Something deep, deep inside me lit up, literally, and before I knew it I was throwing fire. I killed an angel that night. I haven’t used magic since.”

          Rae looked at Joz again, sitting there, still and silent, and waited for him to call her insane, or sinful, or any number of completely reasonable things. Instead, Joz just said, “You’re not really from Benalia, are you?”

          Rae almost laughed, but restrained herself. “Why do you say that?”

          “Well,” Joz said, holding up a fist and counting off on fingers, “I feel like angels turning on their people would have been an infamous enough event that I’d have heard of it, I have never in my life heard of a Cathar before now, and as you were just talking you slipped into an accent I’ve never heard before.”

          Rae cursed under her breath and bit her tongue, looking away again.

          “It’s ok, Rae,” Joz reassured, “But now I’m mighty curious, if you’re up to it.”

          Rae couldn’t help but laugh at that. “If _I’m_ up to it? Joz, you’re the one that almost died two days ago and only just woke up.”

          Joz shrugged, wincing slightly but still smiling. “Long as I’m bedridden, I’d appreciate a good story at least.”

          And so Rae told him. Told him of Innistrad. Of wolf men that hunted by the light of the moon, of vampires that lorded over the mountain passes, of geists that stalked silent in the mists, of restless dead and demented necromancers, and of demons and devils unique in their sheer cruelty. Most of all, though, she told him of her people. Told of humanity enduring through it all. She told of their angelic protectors; of Gisela, her patron, patron of all Cathars, and Avacyn, their great symbol of hope and peace. She told him of the villages and towns, of the great city of Thraben and the Lake of Herons and the sheer beauty of the place on the Feast of Goldnight when the sun shone and the mists sparkled with light.

          Rae realized she was starting to turn sentimental and that Joz hadn’t spoken in a long while. Cursing herself silently for not thinking to check in to see if he even believed her, she looked back to him again. To her great surprise, she found him smiling at her.

          “Why are you smiling,” Rae felt blood rush to her cheeks, “If you laugh at me I don’t care how hurt you are I will-”

          “Whoa there chief,” Joz threw up the hand he wasn’t keeping clutched to his side, “I’m not laughing at you, I’m just happy to see you get so passionate about home. Everyone should have a home to love and think of when times get hard.”

          Rae felt her blush deepen slightly, but she didn’t care much. “Thank you, my friend.” She said.

          “But,” Joz spoke slowly, carefully, “If the angels were your protectors-”

          “Avacyn went mad,” Rae cut him off, unable to wait for him to finish the question or risk losing her nerve, “Gisela and Bruna, another of the Archangels, joined her. Their madness spread and corrupted their flights. Soon we faced the angels just as we faced the monsters they helped us to fight.”

          “And, this best friend you told me you lost…”

          “Moonquill,” Rae’s eyes filled with tears, “A Gryff. Sort of like griffons here but more alike to horses and with long necks. We were soulbonded, as the church called it. Our spirits linked as one. She chose me as her rider, and so I joined the order of Gryff knights that formed just after Avacyn was freed. She died the night I left Innistrad. Killed by one of the mad angels.”

          They sat there in silence for a few moments as Joz digested everything he had been told.

          “I swear this is the last one, but there’s one more thing I need to ask.” Said Joz, looking to Rae for approval. When she nodded, he continued with “If you have the power to move between different worlds, why stay here? Why not go home, or travel elsewhere?”

          Rae’s breath hitched and stopped for a moment as her heart skipped a beat. Joz had hit upon the realization her dream had brought her. The realization that she was meant to travel. She could never stop herself, even in her dream, from leaving Innistrad because she simply was not meant to be confined there. And Dominaria, she now realized, could be no different. She had denied it this long, but there was a pull in her very soul. An instinct to travel across that great nothingness between worlds to whatever might await her.

          Rae looked to her friend, and Joz seemed to see it in her eyes. “It’s alright,” he assured her, “I won’t pretend I understand, but I won’t let you hold yourself back on my account. You can be more than a mercenary stuck here. Go, see what’s out there, and live well. Just visit if you ever get back here, alright?”

          Rae nodded first, then pulled her friend into the tightest hug she dared with his side still sore as it was. “Thank you, Joz,” she said, voice cracking slightly, “And I swear I will visit you again.”

          “Damn right,” Joz chuckled, “Now get going. I’ll be fine, and you’ve got whole worlds to explore.”

          Rae stood and nodded at him, taking one last, good look before she turned away and walked forward, feeling the energy in her chest ignite. She still didn’t like how much like fire it felt, still never wanted to feel the real thing again, but she could manage this. The first step hit the wood floor, the next carried her into the swirling void of energy and nothingness.

          She looked around, unsure how to choose a new path, and settled on closing her eyes and letting her instincts carry her just as she would let them guide her in battle.

          Soon enough she felt her body, practically dissolved when she had left Dominaria, take form once more. Opening her eyes, she looked around and saw she had indeed arrived in a new place. From the rocky slope she stood on she saw as before her spread sweeping plains cut across by a shining river, mountains on the horizon further away. Tucked into the foothills seemed to be a town, and Rae wondered what sort of people lived there. She couldn’t be sure by sight, but she could feel the difference now. This world was neither Innistrad nor Dominaria. This was new.

          “Well, well, well,” Rae jumped and her heart stopped as she heard the voice behind her, “What have we here?”

          Rae wheeled to face the voice and saw a woman, sitting casually on a boulder about five feet tall. She had dark hair tied behind her head in a ponytail and skin in a shade of light brown Rae wasn’t familiar with.

          “I assure you,” Rae began, “That was nothing more than a-”

          “Oh sweetheart,” the strange woman jumped down from her perch and began to casually walk up to Rae, her face ad voice full of amusement, “You can drop the charade. I know another planeswalker when I meet one.”

          “A,” Rae stuttered for a moment, “A what?”


End file.
